[NDizzle]

We’ve had riots, inaction by mayors, and ridiculous decisions by leaders in large metro areas for the past month. Nobody in their right mind is staying in cities, especially after the insane selective application of laws and ordinances the last 5-6 weeks.

Who would buy a nice place in, for example, St. Louis right now?!

[throwaway0a5e]

>We’ve had riots

>Who would buy a nice place in, oh, for example St. Louis, right now?!

People who want to live there regardless and see an opportunity to spend less money doing so. They're the same people who buy real-estate on the cheap after it's value has been depressed by a "fresh in people's minds" disaster in any other location.

Live in a city. Deal with city problems. If you want to live in Nebraska don't be surprised if a tornado flattens your property. If you want to live in Florida don't be surprised if it's underwater. Having rioters burn your home to the ground is simply the mode of destruction you accept some risk of by living in a city.

Personally I'd rather deal with nature trying to destroy my stuff rather than people trying to destroy my stuff but I can understand why people want to live in the city.

[rootusrootus]

> live in Nebraska don't be surprised if a tornado flattens your property

For what it's worth, the average person in Tornado alley will live their entire life without ever seeing an actual tornado, much less get flattened by one.

[quicklime]

For what it’s worth I’ve lived in downtown areas for the last 10 years and I’ve never seen rioters burn down anyone’s house or shop. I’ve never even seen a single rioter (I have seen many peaceful protests though).

[vonmoltke]

I lived in Dallas for 14 years. The only time I have ever seen a tornado live is when I was growing up in South Florida.

[unethical_ban]

We shouldn't legitimize the mindset the parent is pushing, that riots have swept the nation.

Protests swept the nation. Many cities had increased vandalism. A small number had anything approaching riots.

I am renting a house very near the city center. Were it not for the home prices, I would love to own here... though another poster made a good point. All the good reasons to live in the city (night life, people watching, proximity to friends and services and hobbies) are closed down. At least I can walk to the grocery store.

[rootusrootus]

> Many cities had increased vandalism

You say that like it's a past event. Portland is still seeing riot activity. They have done a fair amount of damage downtown. I feel sad for the peaceful BLM protestors because much of the general public will not draw a distinction, so this kind of behavior will blunt their message.

[throwaway0a5e]

You're misinterpreting my comment. Riots haven't swept the nation any more than a hurricane moving up the gulf coast "sweeps the nation". It's just that's the form of disaster that tends to strike cities and I don't think people should be acting like it's unexpected.

[DenisM]

> legitimize the mindset the parent is pushing

Is this phrase the same as "I disagree with the parent"?

[justjash]

Yeah, I don't think there are any issues with people moving to cities if they want to live there.

Just because there are protests, etc. going on doesn't mean the entire city is on fire...

[xyzzyz]

Unlike tornadoes, something can be done to avoid riots burning people houses.

[Kye]

Most riots seem to be sparked by counter-protestors (the police). They could do with more training in de-escalation instead of the "warrior" training too many of them get.

Behind the Bastards did an episode on it.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236...

[throwaheyy]

Where did rioters burn homes?

[cpursley]

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2020/05/28/affor...

[throwaheyy]

That was a building under construction, it wasn’t anybody’s home.

[vonmoltke]

> Live in a city. Deal with city problems. [...] If you want to live in Florida don't be surprised if it's underwater.

Are you suggesting Florida has no cities?

[departure]

I think that's wishful thinking, St Louis was declining way before covid. I don't see a stop of migration happening anytime here in the Austin metro or any of the other major Texas cities. We may see it in HCOL places but I wouldn't count on people leaving Denver, Portland, the NC Triangle, and the similar 'B cities'

[OldHand2018]

> St Louis was declining way before covid

850,000 residents in 1950 and 300,000 now. You are right, Covid had nothing to do with it.

[gred]

> We’ve had riots, inaction by mayors, and ridiculous decisions by leaders in large metro areas for the past month.

Another factor that is (unexpectedly) making my family reconsider intown living is the school closure decisionmaking. If this turns out to be a 1 or 2 year ordeal, and urban school systems end up going full virtual for that time while (some) rural school systems are still fully face-to-face, then that becomes a huge factor for us.

[seanmcdirmid]

In Seattle it is really difficult to find decent houses to buy right now, buyers are panicking and prices have increased significantly in the last couple of months.

My guess is that hot areas are getting hotter and colder areas are getting colder, but COVID hasn’t changed that trend yet.

[itslennysfault]

tbh I feel really bad for anyone that buys during this panic phase. We are almost certainly headed for the largest recession in US history, and I don't see a future where housing prices don't crash as a result.

(I'm also in Seattle and waiting for that to happen before I buy)

[seanmcdirmid]

True I had the same concerns, but super low interest rates distort the picture. Also, while buying now is risky, you are likely to only lose one or two hundred K of value in a recession at most, and that will pop back over time, so long term buyers should be OK.

Paid way too much recently for a townhouse in Ballard, but at the end of the day it seems like a pretty sound decision (we aren't buying for investing, but for living).